The invention relates to a micromixer having a mixing chamber that is connected to a first inlet channel arrangement, into the wall of which mixing chamber a second inlet channel arrangement opens by way of at least one opening.
Micromixers of that type are becoming increasingly important in the field of chemical analyses. They have the advantage that only very small amounts of liquids or gases that are to be studied and correspondingly small amounts of reagents are required in order to carry out an adequate analysis. The fluid to be studied and the reagent must be mixed with one another in order to obtain a desired reaction. The desired analysis results can then be determined quantitatively or qualitatively by reference to the reaction product. It is also possible in that manner to mix cells, for example blood cells, or granules with fluids or reagents.
Micromixers can also be used as microreactors. For example, two gases can be mixed that are in themselves non-toxic but that become highly toxic in a mixing process. If that is limited to a small volume, slightly reduced safety measures will suffice in comparison with a larger mixer in which a correspondingly greater volume of toxic gas is produced.
In the case of the small volumes that are supplied to the mixing chamber it is, however, relatively difficult to obtain adequate intermixing of the fluids by turbulence. If the intermixing is limited to processes dominated by diffusion, it is important that the diffusion can be influenced specifically by the appropriate introduction of the different fluids into the mixing chamber.